Straight-bar knitting machine



Dec. 16T1952 E. LUCHSINGER 2,621,498

STRAIGHT-BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed June 13, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 vDec. 16, 1952 LUCHslNGER Y 2,62l ,498

STRAIGHT-BAR KNITTING MACHiNE Filed June 13, 1949 2 Sl-lEETS-Sl-IEET 2 Patented Dec. 16, 1952 UNITE TEfi OFFI E I STRAIGHT-BAR KNITTING MACHINE Eugenie Luchsinger, Kusnacht/Zurich, Switaer- "i,

land, assignor to Palic Trading Corporation,

New York, N. Y.

For manufacturing looped fabrics, knitting machines are known which comprise a series of sliding needles mounted on a carrier and adapted to. be moved between the needles of a needle bar which is demountable'from the said carrier, for the purpose of pulling out a correspondingly inserted working thread to 'zig-Z'ag 'nooses, the slidin'gneedles being advanced and then returned through elements provided with cam faces. The zig-zag nooses subsequentlyare tied by throwing the previously formed row of loops hanging from the needle bar fromthe front to the rear, thereby producing a' new row of loops.

It is known in the "art to form'the said cam faces as slides, one suchQslide having four .cam faces being providedfor example, or two slides each having two cam faces.

' It also is known to aid the movements of the sliding needles through spring-loaded elements or, respectively, to positively locate the. said needles in their two terminal positions.

It further is known to interconnect the slides by means of supple bands for example, which bands also may be spring-loaded and also serve for the purpose of securing the sliding needles in their terminal positions.

It further is known in the art to demount the needle bar after typing a fresh row of loops, the ware being situated to therear of theneedle bar, and to turn thelatter through 180 so that the ware again will hang in frontand the knitting cycle may be repeated, thus producing a ware which looks alike on both sides and comprises ribs, that is, a so-called pearl work.

Further, the'manufacture of looped fabrics is known which looks different on its sides, that is, plain common hosiery, in'such manner that the work always'hangs rearward of the needle bar, intermediate of the'latter and the carrier, in a free space provided for such purpose, whereby for the purpose of continuing the knitting operation, the 'Zig-zaglo'op'shave to be thrown cfi'the needle heads 'of'the needle bar or, when using. latch or "tumblerneedlesythe saidloops have to be drawn through the loops of the loop row formed last.

In all these manipulations it is necessary that the'slides provided with cam faces are adapted to draw out the free working thread available for continuing the operation, to zig-zag loops in the required direction. In other words, when the a Claims. (01. 669-4) said thread is disposed on the right-hand side of It isthe object of my present invention to r 2' render possible the manufacture of pearl work as well as that of plain common hosiery in one and the same machine. In the latter, known per se, a series of movable needles, preferably sliding needles, on a carrier are adapted to be moved between the set of needles of the needle bar which is detachable from the carrier, and two actuating members, for example, slides, are provided by means of which the movable needles can at times be moved temporarily between the needles of a movable needle bar disposed on the carrier member, so as to enable an inserted thread to be pulled out into a zig-zag loop, the knitted workpiece being thrown over the head of the bar needles at each workingstep with the last-formed row of loops extending from the front to the back so as to bind a new row of loops.

In accordance with the invention the support member of the aforesaid knitting arrangement is provided with a seat for temporarily receiving a second needlebar, said seat assuming an acuteangle position with respect to the first needle bar, in order to be able to transfer a knitted workpiece hanging on the needles of the firstnamed needle bar to the set of needles of the second bar for the purpose of continuing the knitting operation with the second needle bar instead of with the first needle bar.

The a cute angle position that. the'twoneedle bars bear't'o eachother makes it possible, without 'difficultyto transfer the knitted workpieceproperly from the first to the second needle bar ecause the knitted workpiece, thrown so as'to way of example in the accompanying partly schematical drawing, in which: N

Fig. 1 shows a plan'view of the left and the right side of the carrier, whereby for clarifying purposes the cover of the operatin gear has been removed, one needle bar being inserted on the carrier proper, and the other needle bar in two supports.

Fig. 2 shows a side view of Fig. 1, the side wall. being broken away for the purpose of illustrating the operating gear, and a Figs. 3 and 4 show,.inla larger scaleand in two views taken at right angles to each other, the interengaged needle heads of the two needle bars for the purpose of transferring the ware from one of said bars onto the other.

Fig. 5 is a side view similar to Fig. 2 of part of the structure of Fig. 1, and partially in section, illustrating a removable mounting of support brackets;

Fig. 6 is a broken away View of part of Fig. 5 illustrating a detail of the removable mounting.

In Figs. 1 and 2, numeral I designates an oblong casing serving as carrier, with the sliding needles 2, numeral 3 designates the left-hand slide and 4 the right-hand slide with the cam faces 3' and 4 respectively. The latter serve for returning the sliding needles 2 for the purpose of pulling out the zig-zag nooses. The slides 3 and 4 further are provided with a cam face 3" and I" respectively, for advancing the needles 2 for the purpose of forming the trick or needle canal into which the free workin thread is inserted. The supple tension element 5 formed by a cable for example and which at its ends is resiliently secured to the carrier I by means of springs S and T, aids in advancing the needles 2 and locates the latter in the frontmost position. For such latter purpose, the tension element 5 is engaged on a bend 2' of the needles 2.

The slides 3 and 4 may he slid on the rail 8 in either direction.

The needle bar 9 is inserted in its two brackets II and II provided on the carrier I. As shown in Fig. 2, the bar 9 is in an inclined position on the carrier I, and the work I3 hangs in its needles I2 rearwardly over the carrier I. position, the work I3 is thrown forwardly over the second needle bar I4 so that the loop row formed last on the work I3 is transferred from the needles I2 of bar 9 onto the needles I5 of bar I4. For such purpose, the bar I4 has been inserted into the brackets I5 and il secured to the carrier I.

As shown in Figs. '3 and 4, the heads I2 of the needles I2 of bar 5: are provided with a groove I8 of arcuate cross-section and adapted to receive the head I5 of the needles I5 of bar I I. the heads I5 also are provided with a groove IS, the two needle bars 8 and i i may be interchanged in operation.

The mode of operation otherwise is as follows:

As shown in Fig. l, the two slides 3 and a are in their terminal positions. The sliding needles 2 and the needles I 2 of bar 9 form, in known manner, a trick. Assuming the bar I4 has not been inserted yet into the two brackets I6 and I1, and

the available free working thread of the ware I3 (not shown in Fig. 1) hanging from bar 9 through the row of loops formed last, the said thread then is inserted into the said trick from left to right. The slide 3 then is moved in the said direction, i. e. from left to right, and causes the said thread to be pulled out into zig-zag nooses. The ware then is thrown rearwardly over the needle bar 9 and the carrier I so that the row of loops formed last is thrown over the needles I2 for tying the said zig-zag nooses to a fresh row of loops. The needle bar I! then is upwardly dis placed from the brackets I8 and I I in order to disengage the nooses of the zig-zag thread still hanging at their rear ends on the sliding needles 2 from the latter. The needle bar 9 then is again set in the brackets I and I I, and the ware I3 then is situated on the carrier I as shown in Fig. 2.

The needle bar It then is inserted in the brackets I6 and II, the heads I of it needles I5 being engaged to the heads I2 of the needles From such latter Since I2 of bar 9, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The ware I3 now is transferred from the needles I2 onto the needles I5 by throwing it forward accordingly. The needle bar I4 together with the ware I3 hanging therefrom in front, is taken from the brackets I6 and I? and inserted in the brackets I0 and I I on the carrier I, after the needle bar previously lodged therein has been removed therefrom.

The slide 3 which still is at the right of the carrier I, then is returned to its starting position, the sliding needles 2 through the cam face 3 being advanced with the aid of the supple element 5 for the purposeof forming the trick. The freely available working thread which now is at the right of the ware I3, then is inserted in the trick from right to left, and in this direction the slide 4 also has to be moved for the purpose of continuing the knitting cycle. The ware I3 in this manner shows to the operator one side of the plain hosiery, while on the rear side the other side of the plain hosiery is produced. Such knitting cycle may be repeated as desired for producin fresh rows of loops.

When pearl work is desired, one also has to operate by means of one of the said two needle bars. The knitting cycle then is continued with the aid of one bar and one slide only, such bar in known manner being turned through after each cycle so that its former right side will be seated in the left-hand bracket I0 and its left.

side in the right-hand bracket II on the carrier I. For such mode of operation, the two brackets I6 and I1 conveniently are removed from the carrier I through loosening their holding screws.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate the details of a removable mounting of bracket II. In these figures reference numerals refer to similar elements as in the other figures. Numeral I'I designates a support bracket, the foot of which has two head pins I9 that engage in slots 20 of a mounting plate 2| provided on the housing I. The slots 20 are widened at one end so as to permit insertion of the headed pins IS, the heads of which consequently bear against the mounting plate 2I when the brackets I! are mounted. The brackets III are constituted in analogous fashion.

For the purpose of ensuring the location of needle bar I4 on the brackets I6 and I1, suitable means may be provided which permit a rapid lifting and inserting of the said bar.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A knitting apparatus comprising, a support member provided with a set of movable needles, a first removable needle bar on said support, a second needle bar, two actuating members for temporarily moving said movable needles at certain times between the needles of said first removable needle bar to permit pulling an inserted thread out into zig-zag loops, for which purpose the support member is provided with a seat for the temporary reception of said second needle bar, said seat being of such type that said second needle bar has an acute angle position with respect tto the first needle bar in order to permit transferring a knitted workpiece hanging on the needles of the removable needle bar and containing the last-formed set of loops to the set of needles of the second needle bar for the purpose of continuing the knitting operation with said second needle bar instead of with the removable needle bar.

2. A knitting apparatus according to" claim 1, and in which the support member is provided with members for forming the seat for the second needle bar, said members being disposed in removable fashion.

3. A knitting apparatus according to claim 1 and in which engagement places are provided on the heads of the bar needles for permitting the heads of one needle bar to be alternately brought into engagement with the heads of the other needle bar.

4. A knitting apparatus according to claim 1 and in which engagement places are provided on the heads of the bar needles for permitting the heads of one needle bar to be alternately brought into engagement with the heads of the other needle bar, the heads of both of said needle bars being similarly constituted.

5. A knitting apparatus according tto claim 1 and in which engagement places are provided on the heads of the bar needles for permitting the heads of one needle bar to be alternately brought into engagement with the heads of the other needle bar, the heads of both of said needle bars being similarly constituted, and the needle heads being provided with transverse channels.

EUGE'NLE LUCHSINGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 15 2,250,229 Luchsinger July 22, 1941 2,250,230 Luchsinger July 22, 1941 2,382,614 De La Pena Aug. 14, 1945 

